Acts: Power and Witness (Acts 4:1-32)

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SPEAKER_02 0:01

Thanks for joining us today as you listen to a portion of a message recorded at Vine Life Church in Boulder, Colorado. If you'd like to connect with us further, you can visit us online at www.finelife.com.

SPEAKER_01 0:16

Just receiving a download from the Lord. And this morning, she's got a word for us. So let's welcome Cody.

SPEAKER_03 0:29

Thank you, Bob. I'm going to try to get this consolidated. Sometimes I'm better at painting than I am speaking. So y'all can hang with me. But there's some things that I want to read over this house, and I've made some notes. I'll try to move fairly fast. But there's going to be a time that I know that God will offer for us to receive for the house. Interesting enough, if y'all could put that picture up of the red circles. I don't if y'all could get that back up there. This house is an epicenter. And I know that's been spoken over the house before, but the epicenter, what I saw this morning was the mountain of the Lord is in the center of it. And several years ago, I had seen over this house that this was a house of builders who make way for others to drink and to breathe of heaven's rarefied atmosphere. So your builders receive that. Those that might be, you know, praying time, things like that. It's just something feels different. And you know, I was asking the father, like, what is this? And he says, This is the rarefied atmosphere that you've been seeking and you've been wanting. And he says, I'm putting it over Colorado, and the atmosphere has changed. We have a higher elevation available to us in the spirit realm that we can walk into now. For the next 16 months, the Lord says, This elevated atmosphere is open over Colorado. We're going to see people come into the kingdom. We're going to be bringing in people to the kingdom that we never thought we would be bringing into the kingdom. And the Lord says, I'm going after them, but you have an open highway. These are builders in this house that build highways into the heavenly realms. And the Lord says, you're building highways directly into my heart and to the mountain of the Lord so that they can come up and see of the rarefied atmosphere of heaven, they can breathe of the rarefied atmosphere of heaven, and they can drink of the rarefied atmosphere of heaven. And the Lord says, in order for you to do this, you need my joy. The joy of the Lord will be your strength. And the Lord says, you also need new shoes. And it's interesting that Bob said we stand in the shoes of Jesus. The shoes of shalom. The shoes of grace. The shoes of love. And these aren't just simple shoes. What I saw this morning was that God is giving you trekking boots. You don't go climbing a mountain with little shoes, you know, you go prepared, right? And the Lord says, I have given you a time of preparation in these past seasons. Now you are graduating up. You're going to be able to climb into the elevated atmospheres and build highways for others to come upon. But the Lord says, I'm giving you the shoes of grace, empowering grace, and in my empowering love to pave your way and to climb higher and higher and higher in me. And the Lord says, I'm going to give this house an ability to see boulders that are in the way for others to come into the kingdom. I'm going to give this house an ability to have empowering grace and strength and joy to move the boulders, mindsets that have been set over Colorado, in order that the people behind you can come up higher into an elevated place, into my spirit, into my heart, into my mind, into transformation with Jesus. Now God never gives a word not wanting a response. And I rarely come up here and give a word without saying yes and amen. I want it to. That we come into his presence and we come up into the mountain of the Lord. I want others to be behind me. I want to build highways. I want to see what's in their way and be able to move it in his empowering grace so they can come in to meeting Jesus. To encountering the King and to be transformed by His Spirit. So if you want this, I'm asking for a response. If you want these new shoes to come up higher, if you want this empowering grace and favor of God upon you to build highways for others to trek upon behind you, straight into the presence of God. Because this is an epicenter. Everybody's going to go out from here in different directions, but we can bring people back. So if you want this, I'm asking you to stand up. And for the house, let's receive it together. We say yes and amen, Father. We say yes and amen. We breathe in your joy and we exhale your worship. We breathe your joy. And we walk in your strength. We breathe your wisdom. And we exhale your grace. We breathe in your love. And we exhale your love. Father, thank you for increasing our capacity. Make us builders in the kingdom. Let us pave the highways to the high place of the Lord. Father, thank you for your empowering grace, your empowering love, and your empowering presence. And in Jesus' name. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 7:13

Thank you, Cody. Well, what? Is that the word? Got your tool belts ready? That's a good word. That's a good, good word. I would like to talk to you in a real conversation about money. Because we're about to receive an offering this morning. Not everybody gives this morning. We give at different times and in different ways. But I was talking to the Lord this morning about this topic because I knew I'd be doing this part of the service. And in doing that, he shared something with me that I'd like to share with you. When we join a social club, like the Kiwanas Club or whatever it may be, American Legion, the FWL, whatever, we pay dues. We pay dues, right? But that's not what we're doing here. That's not what we're doing. If we were to leave this country and go live in another country, say uh we all moved to Israel, for example, yeah. And became Israeli citizens, we would expect to pay taxes, wouldn't we? We'd expect to be taxed for the defense of our country. That's not what we're doing here either. If we were gonna have a party and we were gonna rent a hall, we would expect to pay for it. We'd expect to pay for our gathering. And that's not what we're doing here either. If we were passionate about a cause, um something with a salvation army or hope or youth for Christ or whatever it was, we would expect ourselves to invest in it. And that's not what we're doing here either. We may all have those kinds of thoughts, we may all have those kinds of motivations, we may have all those kinds of reasons, and there's nothing wrong with them, but that's not what we're doing here. When we give to the Lord, it's not a fee, it's not a tax, it's not dues, it's not a cause, it's none of those things, it is our love. Every Sunday we sing about love, don't we? Every Sunday we sing about the love of God for us. And when we give, in whatever fashion we give, our reason for giving should be to show God our love for Him. Does that make sense? So let's have that reason. Let's have that reason because what God measures with us is not our outcomes, it's our intentions. What do we intend this morning? What did we intend when we gave earlier this week? What did we intend when we give next week, or the week after that, or the week after that? That's what God measures. And what I'm suggesting to you is what we intend is to show our love. Hold it in your hand, hold it in your heart, hold it in your awareness, and let's lift it up to the Lord. Let's lift it up. Lord, we love you. We love you. And where our motivations haven't been what you're asking for, Lord, forgive us. Help us to rethink this, help us to resee this, that we can see your kingdom, that we can see your love, and like a mirror we can reflect it back to you and resonate in eternity in peace and joy. Amen. Amen. Okay. Well, we have some announcements coming. So why don't we take a moment? Uh, it's not me, it's gonna be on a video. Okay, so let's run a video. You guys take a look at this.

SPEAKER_00 11:36

Good morning, everyone. I'm Gwen, and these are your video announcements. All right, I want to talk to you about our sixth annual dance extravaganza happening here at Vine Life Church on October 7th. Everyone ages 10 and up are invited to participate in an all-day experience of extravagant praise and worship. The dance extravaganza will be hosted by the Grace and Glory Sacred Dance Ministry from 12 noon to 5 p.m. this Saturday. Please bring your own lunch to allow more time for fellowship. Vine Life Church is hosting a special exhibition of prophetic artwork created by church member Denise Vesa Maggiore. Each one expresses a message of God's love, peace, and joy to the viewer. Some hold significance in this fellowship and this geographic area with a specific word from the Lord. Come see and experience these unique images and take time to enjoy them in the spirit on October 21st through 22nd. This will be the last time these pieces will be shown together in Colorado. Denise will be available during the reception times to answer any questions you might have about her spiritual journey that brought these pieces to life. Light snacks and beverages will also be available during the reception on Saturday from 4 to 8 p.m. The second reception will be on Sunday, October 22nd, immediately following the service. So after the service, you can just walk out into the halls and experience all the beauty that Denise has created and ask her for more information.com. Hey, if you're new to Vine Life, can I just say that I hope you really enjoy your time here and that you sense the Holy Spirit at work? We also want you to feel welcome here and part of the body of Christ. We'll start by giving you a free drink from the Brood Awakenings coffee bar. Please just take a moment to fill out the Orange Connect card in the seat in front of you. Then you can take it back to the coffee bar to exchange it for your free drink. And that's all of your video announcements today. Enjoy the rest of your week.

SPEAKER_01 14:31

Yeah. What are we gonna do without Gwen? Ah, this is a bummer, isn't it? Doggone it. Well, it is it is what it is. One more announcement. Um, when you came in, unless you were visually disabled, you would have seen a table in the back of the room. And a sign on the table that relates to blessing bags for Mexico. We've been doing this for I don't know how many years. We've been honored to participate with the Amigos of Mexico ministry and bring something of the goodness of God to children in the orphanage at Lirio and to those at Reto in Juarez. And so you're invited, I'm inviting you, the Lord's inviting you to stop by there on your way out and get the information because this isn't you you're going to connect with a specific child. A specific child. That's part of the way this thing works, and who knows what fruit will come of that. So, on your way out today, let's get these blessing bags and uh let's be a blessing to some children in Mexico. Okay. All right. I'm how many of you, I can't see any of it, how many of you uh came in from the north entrance through the garden this morning? Did you see the butterflies? Monarch butterflies all over the place. They're in the sage, they're in stuff I don't even know what it's called, but there was a ton of butterflies. So those butterflies are drawn by the scent, they taste the nectar, and as they travel around in those plants, just like bees, they pollinate, they bring life. Right? That's a beautiful garden, isn't it? So we have our own butterfly this morning. I thought that was a good segue. Help me welcome Jenny. Jenny's our teacher today. We're in the book of Acts. And I hope, I hope, I hope, I hope you're enjoying the journey. I hope you're digging into it because there's so much there. So, Jenny, pollinate. Pollinate.

SPEAKER_04 16:52

Okay, I wasn't expecting that introduction, but we'll go with it. Everybody stand up and flutter. You're pollinating. You are new life. We're spreading the aroma of the Lord, and we are expanding the kingdom. Amen. Amen. Whoo, what a morning. How are you all? Great. Thank you. Thank you, Rocky. Um, I am not sure how any of this is gonna come out of me today because I feel like we have all been on the same page this morning with the Holy Spirit. Thank you, Cody. Whoever you are, I can't see you now. I'm blinded by the light. I love it when God speaks through every single detail. Even through the butterflies outside. And he brings this like breadcrumbs of what he's doing into one powerful revelation. Amen. So bear with me because I have the sense he might hijack me at some point today. And uh let's get into the word. So for those of you who haven't been here, we've been working through the book of Acts, and we have been looking at a new paradigm shift with Jesus ascending into heaven and the Holy Spirit falling upon all flesh who believe in the power and the resurrection and the death of Jesus Christ. This paradigm shift means that heaven and earth have been joined together in the person of Jesus. And the promise of God to do his works, his signs, and his wonders for the glory of his name and the salvation of thousands is unfolding through the ministry of the apostles. And last week, Mike Dudley brought a powerful word to us out of Acts 3 in the story of a man who was lame since birth, being healed. And Mike brought a um a very deep revelation that our end result shouldn't be just healing. God's heart is always that his people would turn towards him, that they would know his loving and saving grace. Amen. And so if we can focus on God's desire to turn his people towards him as opposed to what happens when we're believing for miracles, signs, and wonders, we can guard ourselves from that disappointment because sometimes that's hard, right? Sometimes we can pray for people and we don't see anything happen yet. Yet. Even as Cody said, that the epicenter is the place where we go out and people come in. That we're expanding. And if we focus on the fact that God's heart is to show up in people's lives in a way that they understand, we can, we don't have to worry about what happens. It's on Him. If we pray for healing and it doesn't happen right away, it doesn't mean that you didn't have faith. It doesn't mean that they didn't have faith. It simply means that God is doing something in them. And you may have planted the seed and you may have watered the soil, you may have done something that is stirring up the deeper work of what God is doing. Because He wants us to hold our healing, He wants us to hold our freedom. We can be set free from many things. But if I'm set free from cholesterol and I go to McDonald's every day for the rest of my life, I haven't really held what God wants to do. I haven't really become a vessel to display his glory to all the earth. Amen. So today we're gonna pick up in Acts 4 with this mission and this truth, excuse me, and we're gonna look at the powerful name of Jesus to boldly witness outside of our natural abilities and build thriving communities as we join with Him in getting His glory, spreading His goodness to all the ends of the earth. Father, we come today and we just settle in to your goodness and to your embrace and your peace and your abundant joy, Lord. And Father, would you bless our spiritual eyes and our spiritual ears to be open that we would hear even between the lines of words today what you are saying to us, what you are speaking to us, what you are building in us, which what you are setting fire to within us, God, to be your larger church, expanding your kingdom, bringing in people to the salvation of your glory and your truth and the resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ. And so, Holy Spirit, have your way. Help me say what you want to say and deposit all the rest in Jesus' name. Amen. Okay, so in Acts 3, um, we left off with this man who couldn't walk, and he was being healed in the incomparable name of Jesus in verse 16. So just to recap that, Acts 3, verse 16, and his name, through faith in his name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through him has given him the perfect soundness in the presence of you all. And I love this because we really get to see for the first time the powerful name of Jesus. Not just a person, not just a Billy Joe Sue, Jesus. And there's something powerful about that name that actually causes a sound to go out. Amen. And this is an affirmation of what Jesus said in Mark 16, 17, and 18. And these signs will accompany those who believe. In my name, they will cast out demons, they will speak in new tongues, they will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them. They will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover. Amen. In his name. And so Peter tells them that this is the name by which this man has been healed. And then he delivers a powerful salvation call at the end of chapter three. And really, that salvation call comes at the end of this man's testimony, which is what I was saying. Like, the man was healed. He was like 40 years old, had never been able to walk. And people knew that. There was no denying that something had happened for a man who couldn't walk for 40 years to suddenly now be able to walk. But Peter decides you want to know how that happened? Let me tell you. Let me tell you about the man of Jesus. And so now we have our first evangelistic sermon coming out. In Peter's teachings to about 5,000 men, which we all know means there was a plenty of more women and children included in that, believe the word that is spoken. But this doesn't go over very well in the terms of public order, right? We've got these authorities who are like, what is this chaos? What is happening here? And so eleven different authorities show up and they demand in verse 7 by what power or by what name have you done this? And Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, filled with the Holy Spirit, back to Acts 2, he responds. In Acts 4, verse 9. If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man stands here before you whole. And I love how Pastor Luke talked about the cutting, right? The cutting place, the sobering announcement of the fact that the very God that these religious entities were believing in, the Israelites were following, is the same God who brought Jesus to them and they crucified him. That's a harsh reality, right? But he wants them to understand that there is no denying, there's no denying that the same God who you crucified is the God who's at work in the powerful name of Jesus to do what God spoke four or five hundred years ago, that we he would do signs and wonders through his son the Christ. Amen? And so Peter stands in the face of these authorities and says that the name of Jesus, of whom they rejected by a gruesome crucifixion. And in verse 13 and 14, now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus. And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. Ever had that check in your spirit? Oh. Pretty sure I can't argue this one. And so here we have non-rabbinic educated individuals or the disqualified speaking with boldness on what just happened. And so, really, the authorities are casting out fear. They're bringing their intimidation, right? You have to stop using this name. You just have to stop because we're uncomfortable and this is chaos, and we're not doing this. Get back in the box. Tidy things up again, please. But there's one problem. This is the only name. And Peter and John tell them, you may be the authority here, but we'll take our chances that it's better to listen to God. Because in verse 20, Peter says, For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. We can't help it. You ever had that experience? God does something in you or something in somebody else, and you're just like, you want to climb up on top of the roof and be like, oh my God, Jesus Christ, he's amazing, he just did this thing. You ever had that experience? Anyone? Anyone? Anyone? Anyone? Okay, if you haven't, let's do some more, Lord. Okay, when that happens, like there is something inside of you that's like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I don't care what circumstance or what intimidating factor is coming against me right now, I have to proclaim what God has done. I have to give him the glory. So the powerful name of Jesus is not just a song that we sing, it's the truth, the light, and the life that will testify to his works and his saving grace. So that the whole earth shall be filled with his glory. And even when we sing that, okay, this is a worship thing, right? We can go through the motions of singing it, but there is something actually happening when we proclaim what we are singing, when we proclaim what we are worshiping, okay? We're not just reading words on a screen, and yes, there is grace. Sometimes you're like, I don't know this song. I have I have that's all right. Okay, but when you find that song, okay, everybody has like their song that's on repeat or the album that like has been in your CD player for five months because you just can't get enough of it. When you sing those songs, something is happening in the atmosphere. There is literally a vibration, an energy scientifically going out, a frequency coming from you that's declaring the praise of God. So when we sing the powerful name of Jesus, we're not just flippantly saying, Oh yeah, Lord, your your word is is powerful and true and your name is is awesome. No, there is power in the name of Jesus to break every chain. And when you line, okay, we're gonna talk about this in a minute. Back on track. So, how many of us feel unqualified and intimidated sometimes? And hear the boldness that's displayed in Peter, who is an unqualified but Holy Spirit-filled believer, is so profound that even this man, in their intimidation and accusation, know it must mean he's been with Jesus. It must mean that. Which I find interesting. Because I'd love to ask them a few more questions about that. Well, how come you know that he's been with Jesus? And why are you so intimidating right now? I'd like to ask you a couple more questions. But when we face intimidation, we have something inside of us to stand up against that. There could be 11 entities of authorities in our life. Government or whatever you want to name it. Family. How many families, right? Trying to proclaim the name of Jesus to our families can be the hardest place sometimes. But there's something that Peter is doing here, filled by the Holy Spirit. And the good news is that in the powerful name of Jesus, he's not calling the qualified, he's calling the willing. And so you don't have to be qualified to give a message or a Bible teaching or whatever to testify to what God is doing in your life or what you've seen him do in somebody else's life. You simply have to be willing. And Peter, being filled with the Holy Spirit, is doing far what is beyond his capacity to do in normal circumstances. Now, God uses our in our natural gifts and abilities. I wholeheartedly believe that. I think we can all agree on that. But when he uses us outside of what we're gifted in, everything points to his glory. So when you feel that happening, right? I'm not qualified to pray for this person. I've never seen a person healed or not. Are you willing? You don't have to be qualified. Are you willing? Because God wants all the glory. And not because he's selfishly wanting the glory. Because he knows. He knows what happens when we direct them straight to him. So Peter and John are let go and they head to a prayer meeting. Down in Acts 4, 23 through 28. And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, you are God who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, who by the mouth of your servant David have said, Why did the nations rage, and the people plot vain things? The kings of the earth look took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ. For truly against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever your hand and your purpose determined before to be done. Oh, that's so good. So we start off with one accord again. They're in one accord. They gather together to pray and to stand on the word of God. And they come into one mind in purpose by the Holy Spirit to do what the Father is doing. And I love, and this is awesome to do in your prayer life. Remind God. Lord, remember what you said in Psalm 2? That's what's happening. So I know that this is true. I know that this is what's happening. I know that you said we would go out and we would do these things in your name. It's a reminder to me, and it's a reminder to you. Like we are coming in alignment. You spoke your truth, and I am believing your truth. And together we're in one accord. And when we come together with other believers in one accord, now we're all standing on the truth of God and we're proclaiming it, we're declaring it out. In verse 29, this is their prayer. Now, Lord, look on their threats and grant to your servants that with all boldness they may speak your word. By stretching out your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus. So they pray that God would give them even more boldness. Because if you remember, they spoke with boldness and it got them in trouble. But they realized something. We did that. And these authorities knew we were with Jesus. And then 5,000 people believed in the Word of God. That got us in trouble, but I'll go ahead and take a little more, please. I'll take a little more of that boldness. Verse 31. And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. And they spoke the word of God with boldness. Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul. Neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own. But they had all things in common. And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and a great grace was upon them all. Boldness. When we come into unity with what God's doing, and we come into unity with each other, boldness happens. And the word, the Greek usage of the word boldness here is actually linked not to natural boldness, not to natural ability, but actually one that comes by being in the spirit. So it's outside of, I'm going to muster up courage for 20 seconds here. It's outside of that. And when it says one heart here, the origin original Greek means to be in tune or in sync. And one soul or one mind has this beautiful meaning, and I love that Cody said it, whether she knew she was saying it or not. It means to literally breathe. So in tune, in sync, and to breathe. How many have heard people sing out of tune? How many have heard the worship team sing in tune? In sync, in harmony. Okay, this is an interesting concept. A guitar has six strings and you tune them to the correct chords, right? And when you strum it in a key or just open, it sounds in harmony. But if one string is out of tune, you will miss the beauty of the other five. You'd like, oh yeah, that's not right. Something's not right there. When we uh come in tune and are in sync with each other, we breathe what God is doing. And if we keep stick sticking with the example of a guitar, there's a big hole in an acoustic guitar. It's a resonator. And it amplifies the sound of those beautiful strings, it amplifies it out. We resonate with the Holy Spirit's doing. In your marriage, for those of you that are married, you know when you're not in tune. And you know when you are. And something we learned early on in our marriage, when it comes to things of the Spirit, if we're asking God about a big decision we have, and we have totally different opinions about that, we have to keep praying and separately going to the Father until we get the same answer. Because now we're in tune. That doesn't mean you don't have good ideas. That doesn't mean there's a process happening. But how many of you know that it's a lot easier to make decisions when you're in tune? And we actually are a frequency. I just got to sit in on a class about frequency. And it blew my mind. It was so cool. We are actually a frequency. And we actually create a sound that goes out to tune heaven, to tune creation back to what it was meant to do. Isn't that cool? One accord. When we get in tune with other believers, our every breath inhales the goodness of God and exhales his power and grace. When a community gets in tune with each other, it thrives in God's provision and joy. Together. Amen. So in verse 33, it said, And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. This power here is dunamis power, which is an energy or a great force or great ability. Again, completely outside of anything that you can do in your humanness. And Peter and the others saw their boldness in the Holy Spirit was enough to witness in the face of intimidation, to bring salvation to thousands. And now they're asking for more. And it's interesting as we go on here. Okay, they've been asked, they've been ordered to not use the name of Jesus. But in two years, they go on to bring the gospel to the entire area of Asia. That, I mean, that kind of blows my mind a little bit. That means that every place they were met with opposition, they walked right through it. Being filled by the Holy Spirit. Now we talked about in Acts 2 getting filled with the Holy Spirit. But you can keep getting filled. You can keep getting filled to overflow, which would imply, if we have to be continuously being filled, that there's times where we need to get filled up again. And in this specific text, we see that when Peter is going forth in power, when he's like, no, I'm going to proclaim the name of Jesus. I'm going to confess the mighty works of my God. So that he can, in all boldness. I heard this interesting analogy of this. Um it was in a message Bill Johnson did. There is this British test pilot, and he took a plane up, and as he's, you know, flying, he noticed that there's a rat on the plane chewing away at a fuel line. Oh, probably not a good thing. And so the pilot's like, I don't know if I can land this. So instead What happens when we go higher? Well, to the rat. Right. There's not enough oxygen for him, and he killed the rat. And he landed the plane later. Fine. When we go higher, again, what Cody said, in the altitude. The spiritual altitude of a father, we kill the rat. I mean, come on. How many times has something happen and we're like, oh my gosh, I'm intimidated, I'm scared, I can't do whatever, I don't know how to get breakthrough, whatever. I'm just gonna land the plane because I'm comfortable down here. Well, guess what? When you land the plane, you save the rat. Maybe we should stop doing that. Maybe we should say, no, Lord, more. More. I'm going higher in this situation. I'm gonna kill that rat once and for all. Because the voice of defeat and shame or whatever it is is going down today. More boldness, Lord. More boldness. Because boldness is basically one step beyond convenience. It's not where we're comfortable, but it's where there's breakthrough. And we need to go higher so we can tune ourselves to the Holy Spirit and we can kill the rat of circumstance. So, how many today are one bold confession away from breakthrough? One bold confession. God, I need you in this situation right now. And I'm gonna stand on the powerful name of Jesus because it is the holy name. And God, you said it in your word that if I proclaimed your name, God, you would show up, and whatever I ask in your name, I shall receive it. And so in this place, what a powerful name it is in the name of Jesus. One bold confession. How many of you know somebody else who's got a son or a daughter dealing with um addiction or whatever they might be going through? Do you know that you're one bold confession of faith away from giving them breakthrough? Hey, I know, I let me tell you about my Jesus because He can help He can heal that. And you just took the truth and the Word of God and you got in sync and you got in tune and you created a sound that's in harmony with the spirit of what God's doing on in heaven, on earth, they're together here. We are in the person of Jesus. The paradigm of heaven and earth are within us. We don't have to go and muster it up. It's here today. One bold confession of faith. And maybe you're someone who's never taken the first step to confess the name of Jesus. And let me just say, when you step through that door of opposition or doubt or whatever is going on to keep you from declaring, I believe in the name of Jesus, that rat is gonna die in your life. And you're gonna see the power of heaven and earth in your life in ways you could never have imagined. Never have imagined. Let me share one short story. It's a long story, but I'm gonna tidy it up here. I um my mother was 16 when she had me. And my biological father was 18, I think. And my mother, in her ridiculously amazing wisdom, told him, You're either all in or you're all out. At 16. Well, he was 18. He was he was like, I can't be all in, so he was all out. So for the first three years of my life, I didn't know my biological father, I didn't grow up with him. Um but my mom met my dad, my daddy, when I was three, and I was raised by him, and he is the most incredible God-given man I could ever have asked for. But I never knew. I never met my biological father. Didn't really know a whole lot about him, but didn't really matter because I was pretty happy with the life I had. I met him once when I was 18. That's another story. Didn't see him again, had a brief interaction with him, didn't see him again for another 18 years when I moved across the street from his cousin. What? Moved across the street from my biological grandfather's brother. No idea. That's another story. Won't tell that today. Okay? A couple years later, we're making a relationship with the neighbors who are my cousins. Yeah, there's a lot to that. Um, and I get a phone call from her, the wife across the street, my cousin, that my biological grandfather is not expected to survive the night. I'm like, oh, you know, that's I'm really sorry. I've never met this man. I don't really know how to feel about this. Except that it's sad, because somebody's losing a grandpa and a father and a brother and all these things. Okay, she's like, I don't know why I'm calling to tell you this, but I just felt like I needed to. All right, hang up the phone. Um asking the Lord, what was that? What was that for? Okay, I'll just I'll just pray for them, you know. My husband Ryan comes home. I tell him what happens. I'm like, you don't think this is like where I should go, like, pray for him to meet Jesus on his deathbed kind of thing, do you? He goes, actually, I think that's exactly what it is. What? No, I don't even know these people. You want to talk about boldness of faith. I'm shaking. I mean, I'm literally like, I okay, I don't know. Is this really what you want me to do, Lord? And you know when God's like, I got your number, Jen, and I'm gonna keep calling until you answer. So I grab one of the cousins to go with me because there's powerful support when you bring a person with you, right? Let me just say that too. If you need more boldness to go out and pray for people, I got a few people you can call. But then we'll go with you. So I grab one of the cousins, take him with me down there, and I'm just like, Lord, just don't let just don't let my biological father and like I'm not here to open a can of worms and let all this stuff happen. I'm just here to do what you're asking me to do. And you want me to bring light and life and love to this man for whatever reason, I don't know. I'm gonna bless him. He gave me life. He's my biological grandfather that I don't know, but he did give me life. So we get there. Another whole story, I'll tell that some other time. And finally gets to the point where I'm like, okay, wait, I'm nudging my cousin. We gotta do this because, like, you know, this man's doesn't have a lot of time left to live. Okay, all right, let's do this. Before I can step towards this man's bed, in comes my biological father. Oh, this just got a little more complicated. And there's no bad feelings there, it's just it's just kind of awkward, you know? So I had to push through that. That's another long part of the story. Yeah. A very interesting story that I will share with y'all someday. But the point is, the point is, I am met with intimidation every step of the way. With fear, with anxiety, with the what-ifs, with all kinds of stuff going on here. But I am vibrating with the truth and the purpose of Jesus in me. I will not leave here until I pray that this man knows Jesus. Regardless of all the drama that's happening. I want to run away from here, cry, scream, whatever, take your pick. I want to get out of this place. So I have an interaction with the biological father, it's awkward, it's weird, it's whatever. Tell my cousin, we need to go in there. She's like, Are you serious? You alright? I'm like, that's not what I'm here for. I'm here to pray for this man. Okay, all right, you're coming with me. So we walk in there, he's on um, you know, pain medication, he's not really coherent, he hasn't really made a whole lot of sounds even since the time we've been there. We've been there for a while by this point. And so I walk over to him and I place my hand on his head, and he immediately starts trying to say something. And I'm like, Jesus, even if he can't comprehend this, his spirit is alive in you. And so I'm gonna believe that my spirit and your spirit are speaking into his spirit. And he's gonna hear, and he's gonna know you. And so I just began to bless him. I know we don't know each other, but I want to thank you for life. I want to thank you that you have given me abundant life. I have three grandchildren, or three children that are your great-grandchildren, and you don't know them now, but when you get into the arms of Jesus, you're gonna know more about them than I do. And he's there waiting for you. And I want you to know you're gonna be at peace and you're gonna be at rest and and whatever. I'm just praying over this man, and he's trying to say something back. Something is visibly and audibly happening in this man's being. My cousin's lost it.

unknown 54:03

Right?

SPEAKER_04 54:03

She's like, well, I don't know what is going on here. And I and I left. And I cried the whole way home, but I left. And on my way home, I said, God, please tell me, please confirm for me that this was about your glory and your purpose and your plan. This wasn't to stir up some weird pot of the can of worms or whatever. That what I did, what I went for was not in vain, Lord. Just bring me some kind of sign, something. And that night I'm asleep, and the last dream I have before I wake up is me in that room, and it's filled with glory. And Jesus is sitting at it at the foot of his hospital bed. And the grandfather flings out of bed, and he's got the oxygen and all the stuff on him, and he's pulling it off, and he's like a vibrant 30-year-old healthy man, whom I don't know what that even looks like, right? Because I've never met him, but I know it's him. And he's like, What is going on? Why am I in this gown? What is this stuff? And he's just confused. And Jesus says, You're gonna be alright. I'm here. And he looks at Jesus and then he looks at me in the doorway. And without speaking a word, I hear in the spirit every word that I said to him being known to him. This is my granddaughter, and I have three great grandchildren, and I'm gonna be okay with Jesus. And I just smile at him and I say, You're gonna be all right. And I wake up. And I'm like, Oh, okay. I was just on planet heaven, I don't know about anybody else, but I pick up my phone because I feel compelled, because all these god things were happening there, right, in the midst of all of this. Testimony of who I am. Oh my gosh, we've never known you, all this stuff is happening, and so I feel compelled to continue part of this story. And so I text the aunt, so the sister of my biological father, the daughter of the man dying, if you're all on the same page. I text her and say, Hey, I just want to thank you again for last night. Um, and I just want to share with you this incredible dream that I had. And she's she she happens to be a believer. And I said, I just think that God showed up. This is this is what I'm texting, and she texts me while I'm sending this, and she says, I just wanted to let you know that dad just passed right now. I saw the exchange because God's outside of time. That boldness was not about me because I was afraid every step of the way. But I came in to confess. Yours your life is deposited in my life, your legacy is in me. And you're gonna be with Jesus because he's your savior, and he's gonna tell you things that are beyond what you can comprehend. And you're not going to hell, you're going to heaven. So it's okay. Everything that you're going through right now is gonna be okay. And the Lord honored my request, and when I said, please, just confirm for me to see that exchange. And that has changed my life. When you are feeling the nudging of the Holy Spirit to step out in boldness, will you be willing? Can you trust him? It's not gonna feel easy, it's not gonna feel qualified, it's gonna feel scary and hard. You're gonna go into other countries for missions trips or whatever, you're not gonna know the language, you're not gonna understand what they have been through because we live in America. There's gonna be situations in your life where you are gonna be outside of your natural gifting and abilities. But that is where God gets his glory. That is where the sound of heaven is made in all the earth. So let's stand on the truth of God today, right? Who's needing more boldness to kill a rat in your life? Stand up. Stand up, please. And if you're needing more boldness to confess the name of Jesus for the first time today, I would love to meet you. Please come down here afterwards or now if you want, if you want to be bold now. There's a transaction that happens when we step forward in that boldness, and we're filled with the Holy Spirit to do things beyond our comprehension, to move in power, to be filled, to overflow with the Spirit of God, that there is no denying the glory is his. And so let's just let's just put out our hands. We're up wherever you need to, whatever level you need him at. How high do you need to take this plane? Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. How powerful and wonderful your name is, Lord. And with all my soul, I declare your goodness today, Lord. In every circumstance I declare your truth and your promise, God. Every place that I need breakthrough, Lord, I confess boldly that you are the God of the universe who made the heavens. And you will answer your children who call on your name. Jesus. Jesus, Jesus, the mighty name of Jesus. There's power in the name of Jesus to break every chain. And so, God, whatever everybody is standing for today, God, we we bring down the name of Jesus to break those chains. We bring down the name of Jesus. Heaven and earth are colliding for your goodness, God. Where we need boldness to confess your faith to someone who is desperately needing you, God. In our office, in our neighborhood, at school, Lord. More, Lord. More boldness, God. Take us higher. Tune our frequency to you, God. Let us be a beautiful harmony to fill all the earth with your glory, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you that we trust you. Thank you that you never fail. Thank you that we're never alone. Thank you that we are one step away today and every day from the power that you have to fulfill the signs and the wonders and the miracles, God, that you said, Lord. Your people, old and young, brothers and sisters, children, God, in this place, in our lives, and all over the earth, God. Let your will be done, Lord. In Jesus' name, everybody said. Amen. Thank you.

unknown 1:01:52

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:55

Well, what a morning, huh? You know, it's funny. By the middle of the week or so, we actually have a plan for what's going to happen Sunday morning. And we start with this plan. Rarely do we ever finish with it. That's how God shows up for us in this house, isn't it? So this morning, Cody's got a word. She says this is an epicenter. And she resonates with the vision that she had over a graphic that we're using in the service. And Jen, our butterfly of the morning, comes and talks about being bold and uses the example of Peter. What do we do with that? Do we say, gee, that's nifty? Or do we receive it? Do we receive that word? Do we receive what Jen was prompted to teach this morning? You know, we prayed for her before the service. We always try to pray before service for whoever's speaking. And all we ask the Lord is that Jen's mouth would say his words. That's all we wanted. And I think that's what we got. So let's hold this to heart, okay? As we go out this week. Don't forget resound. Ten years. I think I had hair when that thing started, but maybe some that wouldn't say so. Don't forget the blessing bags in the back. We got kids to take care of. Illyrio, the orphanage in uh choose, Mexico. Okay? So let's take care of them. Let's stand, ministry team. Could you come, please? We have some words that'll be on the screen. Maybe you came in the door with this idea, with this kind of plan. And maybe everything's changed for you. We prayed for that this morning, too. That for each of us, we would not leave as we came. Okay? That we have a touch from the Lord. Surely we've had a touch from the Lord. So bless you all. You're gonna have a great Sunday. Broncos are playing today, I think. And so we can watch that. And we will see you next Sunday. Be blessed in the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen? Amen. Hug your neck on your way out. We'll see you next time.